An electrified fire fighting vehicle includes a battery pack, an electromagnetic device, an engine, and a controller. The controller is configured to monitor a state-of-charge of the battery pack, operate the electromagnetic device using stored energy in the battery pack to provide a performance condition including (i) accelerating the electrified fire fighting vehicle to a driving speed of at least 50 miles-per-hour in an acceleration time and (ii) maintaining or exceeding the driving speed for a period of time, and start and operate the engine in response to a start condition to facilitate reserving sufficient stored energy in the battery pack such that the state-of-charge is maintained above a minimum state-of-charge threshold that is sufficient to facilitate the performance condition. The acceleration time is 30 second or less. An aggregate of the acceleration time and the period of time is at least 3 minutes.

Apparatuses, systems, and methods are provided for assisting a driver of a motor vehicle in driving on a predeter-mined racetrack. A sensor system is configured to detect a current position of the motor vehicle on the racetrack and an electronic control unit configured to control an actuator system of the motor vehicle. Predetermined brake point positions of the racetrack are stored in the electronic control unit. A current position of the motor vehicle on the racetrack is continuously detected. A relevant remaining driving time from the current position to a relevant brake point position of the racetrack is determined using the electronic control unit. Corresponding limit values are stored in the electronic control unit for the relevant remaining driving time. When a corresponding limit value is not reached, the control device controls the actuator system of the motor such that the motor generates a signal to the driver.

When an abnormality associated with power transmission in a power transmission path which is formed such that power of an engine or the like is able to be transmitted to driving wheels has occurred and a vehicle speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined vehicle speed, a limp-home travel control unit switches a limp-home travel mode to a first limp-home travel mode in which the power of the engine or the like is able to be transmitted to the driving wheels through the power transmission path. When an abnormality associated with power transmission in the power transmission path has occurred and the vehicle speed is lower than the predetermined vehicle speed, the limp-home travel control unit switches the limp-home travel mode to a second limp-home travel mode in which limp-home travel is performed using power of a second electric motor.

A through the road (TTR) hybridization strategy is proposed to facilitate introduction of hybrid electric vehicle technology in a significant portion of current and expected trucking fleets. In some cases, the technologies can be retrofitted onto an existing vehicle (e.g., a trailer, a tractor-trailer configuration, etc.). In some cases, the technologies can be built into new vehicles. In some cases, one vehicle may be built or retrofitted to operate in tandem with another and provide the hybridization benefits contemplated herein. By supplementing motive forces delivered through a primary drivetrain and fuel-fed engine with supplemental torque delivered at one or more electrically-powered drive axles, improvements in overall fuel efficiency and performance may be delivered, typically without significant redesign of existing components and systems that have been proven in the trucking industry.

A vehicle communication system includes: a communication server and a vehicle control device. The vehicle control device includes at least one electronic control unit configured to: recognize a position of the host vehicle; acquire section information on the communication established section and the communication interrupted section; determine in which section, either the communication established section or the communication interrupted section, the host vehicle is traveling or is to travel; perform system driven control of the host vehicle based on the road condition information when the host vehicle travels in the communication established section; and perform driver driven control of the host vehicle when the host vehicle travels in the communication interrupted section.

A vehicle communication system includes: a communication server and a vehicle control device. The vehicle control device includes at least one electronic control unit configured to: recognize a position of the host vehicle; acquire section information on the communication established section and the communication interrupted section; determine in which section, either the communication established section or the communication interrupted section, the host vehicle is traveling or is to travel; perform system driven control of the host vehicle based on the road condition information when the host vehicle travels in the communication established section; and perform driver driven control of the host vehicle when the host vehicle travels in the communication interrupted section.

Methods and systems are provided for heat sanitizing a vehicle. In one example, a method may include, responsive to receiving a request for sanitization of a vehicle interior, activating an ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) system and operating a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system to heat the vehicle interior above an upper threshold temperature for a threshold duration. In this way, the HVAC system may be advantageously used to expose the vehicle interior to temperatures that kill or inactive microbes while the UVGI system may supplement the heat sanitizing.

An apparatus for controlling a start of an engine for a mild hybrid electric vehicle includes: a mild hybrid starter & generator (MHSG) starting an engine; a first battery connected to the MHSG through a first power cable and supplying electric power to the MHSG; a low voltage DC-DC converter (LDC) converting voltage supplied from the first battery into low voltage; a second battery supplying the low voltage to an electric load that uses the low voltage; an ignition switch including a first contact point and a second contact point; a data detector detecting data for controlling the engine start for a mild hybrid electric vehicle; and a controller determining whether a charging condition of the second battery is satisfied based on the data, and charging the second battery with electric power of the first battery when the charging condition of the second battery is satisfied.

A control device for a vehicle includes an opening degree sensor to detect an opening degree of a wastegate valve disposed in a bypass passage bypassing a turbine. Circuitry is configured to stop an internal combustion engine while the vehicle is driven by a motor in a motor drive mode. The circuitry is configured to calculate a target opening degree of the wastegate valve to be larger than a maximum error between the opening degree detected by the opening degree sensor and an actual opening degree of the wastegate valve. The circuitry is configured to control the wastegate valve such that the opening degree detected by the opening degree sensor is equal to the target opening degree while the vehicle is driven in the motor drive mode.

Provided are a driving force control method and device for a hybrid vehicle, each capable of effectively absorbing torque fluctuation of an engine while suppressing deterioration in energy efficiency. The driving force control device for a hybrid vehicle comprises a PCM configured to: identify a vehicle acceleration; estimate an average torque output by an engine; estimate a torque fluctuation component of the torque output by the engine; set a countertorque for suppressing the estimated torque fluctuation component; and control an electric motor to output the set countertorque, wherein the PCM is operable, under a condition that an engine speed and the average torque output by the engine are constant, to set the countertorque such that, as the absolute value of the vehicle acceleration becomes smaller, the absolute value of the countertorque becomes larger.